1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an integrated circuit package holder comprising conductive pins subjacent to the holder into which conductive pins of the package are plugged.
More particularly, this invention deals with safeguarding binary information in an integrated circuit, such as a memory, when power delivered by a main power source of a printed circuit board on which the holder is mounted, disappears for any reason. Provisions must be made for a spare power source that can replace the main power source in order to save the information stored in the memory, or at least an essential logic function performed by the integrated circuit, such as a clock signal generation.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Two solutions for mounting a spare power source that can feed integrated circuits have already been proposed. The spare source generally consists of several cells or miniature accumulators.
In a first solution, the spare power source is housed in a cylindrical or parallelepipedal flat package mounted directly on the printed circuit board. The spare power source package takes up some noticeable space on the printed circuit board thereby cutting the number of integrated circuits that could have been mounted on the board. Further, additional printed electrical conductors are required to connect the spare power source to integrated circuit supply terminals.
A second solution consists of housing the spare power source inside the integrated circuit package. The cost of the integrated circuit is then high. If the integrated circuit or the spare power source becomes defective, the whole package must be changed, as the spare source is not accessible alone.
In an embodiment of the second solution disclosed in international patent application No. WO 82/04359, the spare power source is removably inserted in an open recess located in one major overlying side of the integrated circuit package opposite the printed circuit board. Such package must be designed for each specific integrated circuit and replacement of the integrated circuit requires replacement of the whole package.